159 I learn of flamingos and hurricanes 



were able to get within a few hundred feet before they flew. Then 

 we saw the chicks, just a handful of them, swimming away from 

 the islet like young geese, closely attended by the adults, who 

 circled back to them immediately. Standing up in the boat, I 

 counted a couple of dozen nest mounds, not much of a colony, but 

 still a going concern. We moved off almost at once so that the 

 chicks, which were less than a week old, would not swim too far 

 from their base. 



Montour had seen nothing at all, and, for once, after he had 

 heard our good news, he was speechless for as long as an hour. 

 But his disappointment was soon forgotten and before we set sail 

 again his usual spirits were completely restored. That night when 

 I fell asleep he was still talking, trying to explain to Forsyth his 

 strange notions about flamingos and the condition of the universe 

 in general. And above Rodney's lusty snores, almost the last words 

 I recall hearing were, "And I tell you, sor, these are not all the 

 fillamingos. No, no, no! My mind tell me, ve can find others if 

 ve look towards Israel Hill. . . ." And so on and on. And then 

 Forsyth's deep voice, sounding far away in the darkness, filled 

 with authority and yet softened by a vast and amused tolerance. 

 "Montour, d'you know, you are an incorrigible rascal!" 



